Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the whole family!

Do you make a New Year’s Resolution every year? If so, what is it for 2013? Daniel informed me that his resolution is to buy an “island Jeep.” Specifically, a Jeep Wrangler. To this end, in lieu of a fancy New Years night on the town, we went on an eerie excursion to check one out. The verbal directions to meet our mystery man, Tom, were, “get on Island Access Rd, go about a half a mile down the road through the stop light and make your next right past a big cement building.” I looked at Daniel and asked him half-jokingly if he thought Tommy-Boy was waiting to chop us to pieces. He laughed, but it got both our minds turning; what if this dude lured Jeep enthusiasts to his cement workshop to use their skin as seat covers??

Daniel even forgot to bring is pocket knife! We had no protection other than the finger-nail clippers in my purse, and the fact that Daniel recently decided to go with an ex-con look.

wat’chu want?

We were less than reassured when we pulled around the back of the “big cement building.”

looks like something from the Saw series

We rolled up to the back of the sketchy workshop, and came face to face with Tom. Turns out, he’s an extremely knowledgeable and friendly mechanic who loves flipping old Jeeps.

Daniel, taking a closer look

Wait a second. Do you notice anything odd in the background?!?

This officially just got Jeepy-CREEPY.

Grim Reaper aside, the Jeep was super cool and Tom even gave us a free engine tour.

89 Jeep Wrangler – pretty baller

ruggedness

After a thorough run down, we made our escape unharmed. Good thing, because we still had to bring in the New Year with a bottle of Barefoot Pinot Grigio Champagne. We had two options at the store this year: Korbel or Barefoot. Since we had no interest in repeating last year’s Korbel headache, we went with option two. We decided that it’s probably the best-tasting $7 bottle of bubbly you can get. I guess we’ll know more in the morning…

our version of “stemless” wine glasses

With bubbly in hand, we watched the famous ball drop (five hours after it’s live performance) then hit the balcony to watch some distant fireworks.

father-son fireworks

going out with a big bang

Twenty Thirteen, here we come!

Serious New Years Resolutions
Run the 2013 Honolulu Marathon (December) … together!!